Game apparatus for playing threedimensional chess and tic-tac-toe



Sept. 2, 1969 MAHONEY 3,464,701

GAME APPARATUS FOR PLAYING THREE-DIMENSIONAL CHESS AND -TIC-TACTOE FiledDec. 6, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Michael Mohoney BY wwzza/ATTORNEY M. MAHONEY GAME APPARATUS FOR PLAYING THREE-DIMENSIONAL Sept.2, 1969 CHESS AND TIC-TAC-TOE 6, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.

36' as H FIG.8.

INVENTOR Michael Muhoney iii? ATTORNEY United States Patent C US. Cl.273-131 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A game apparatus made oftransparent material in the form of a rectangular four sided framehaving four play boards mounted in vertically spaced relation therein,each play board being slidable from a normally retracted position insaid frame to an extended position on a different side of the frame.Each play board is marked off by lines or ridges into sixteensubstantially square game piece receiving areas for receiving gamepieces of different players in selected areas in the course of a game toproduce a desired arrangement of the game pieces on all the play boardswhen they are placed in a predetermined relation to each other. Forplaying tic-tac-toe each player has four game pieces, and for playingchess game pieces having chess symbols thereon are provided.

The present invention relates to an amusement apparatus for use in gameswherein one or more players may participate.

The primary object of this invention is to devise a new and improvedapparatus providing means by which one may develop skill in visualizingthree-dimensional geometric relationships.

A further object is to make a new and improved threedimensionalapparatus for playing games of the chess or tic-tac-toe type.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new andimproved three-dimensional game apparatus to be played by an individualor by two or more persons.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedthree-dimensional game apparatus including means for supporting gamepieces in three-dimensional spacial arrangement on slidable game boardswhich are vertically spaced in the apparatus and in their extendedpositions facilitate ready access to all the play piece positions on allboards of the apparatus.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from theensuing description, with reference to the accompanying drawings and theappended claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus with four playing boardsin retracted position;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus with the playing boardsin the extended position;

FIGURE 3 is a plan 'view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view in elevation of one of the play boardstaken along the line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the apparatus as shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a side view as seen along the section line 6-6 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of a modified play board on which the spacedlines are replaced by ridges; and

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view thereof, taken on the line 88 of FIGURE 7.

Referring now to the drawings, in FIGURE 1 it should be noted that theapparatus is indicated as a whole by the ice reference character 10 andcomprises a box-shaped frame 12 which is open at the top and bottom andcontains four playing boards 14 slidably disposed in the grooves 16. Theframe and playing boards may be constructed of any suitable clear,transparent material such as glass or transparent plastic. Each of theplaying boards is extendable from a retracted or closed position, asseen in FIGURES 1 and 3, to an extended playing position, as seen inFIG- URES 2, 5 and 6.

The frame is provided on each side with a support groove 18 whichreceives the rear end of a playing board, the groove having a centralguide slot 20. Also formed in each side of the frame is a slot 22aligned with the groove 18 in the opposite side, said slot permittingthe associated board to slide out of the frame into its extendedposition. Stops 24 may be provided at the rear corners of each board toprevent its complete detachment from the frame when it is pulled bymeans of the grip tab 26 extending from the edge of the board. A guidetab 28 extends from the rear edge of each board for cooperation with thecorresponding slot 20 to guide the rear edge of the board into thesupport groove 18.

The slot 22 is widened across substantially the entire width of theframe to accommodate the height of the game pieces 30 which are placedon the board during a game, so that they will not be displaced as theboard is moved into retracted or closed position in the frame.Obviously, the same accommodations exist even when the apparatus is usedin the upside-down position, as may be seen by an inspection of FIGURE6, since the opposite edges of the widened portion of slot 22 areequally spaced from adjacent faces of the board 14.

In the particular apparatus illustrated, there are four verticallyspaced boards, each board 14 having sixteen substantially equal areas 32marked off by three spaced parallel lines 34 intersecting three otherspaced parallel lines 36 of equal length at right angles. The apparatusprovides an arrangement of the areas 32 on different boards whereby foursuch areas may be visibly lined up in a horizontal, vertical or diagonaldirection when the boards are all retracted or closed.

The apparatus is further provided with four sets of differently coloredgame pieces 30, the number of pieces in each set being four.

In other rectangular forms of this apparatus, the device may besimilarly constructed to provide a different number of areas 32 markedoff by other than the three spaced parallel lines 34 intersecting theother three spaced parallel lines 36.

In place of the lines 34 and 36, ridges 34 and 36 may be formed on theface of a board 14', and may be supplemented by peripheral ridges 38, asshown in FIGURES 7 and 8, to prevent accidental displacement of the gamepieces from the areas in which they have been placed if the apparatusshould be excessively jarred when the boards are moved from the extendedto the closed position.

This apparatus is especially suited for the following games, although itmay obviously be used in many other ways:

THREE-DIMENSIONAL TIC-TAC-TOE The object of the game is for a player toarrange his pieces on the extended boards such that, when the boards areplaced in a closed position, his four pieces form a straight line in avertical, horizontal or diagonal direction through the lined boards.

Each player chooses a set of colored pieces. Each of the four boards isextended. The first player puts a piece on a play area. Playersalternately place one piece on vacant play areas of their choosing untilone player decides that he has aligned his four pieces in a straightline.

He then declares that he has won. The extended boards are returned totheir closed position where his claim can be verified. If his fourpieces do, indeed, line up, he wins; if not, he forfeits the game.

THREE-DIMENSIONAL CHESS The game is played as in conventionaltwo-dimensional chess with the following exceptions:

(1) The game is played with at least two of the play boards in theirextended positions so that the players may readily visualize an entirechess board of sixty-four playing piece areas as being composed of allfour play boards arranged in a predetermined relation to each other, andvisualize the relationship between the chess pieces on the entire chessboard, the game pieces being in the same form as pieces 30 except thatchess game symbols are inscribed on each game piece.

(2) The boards may be brought into their aligned or closed position whena players King is in check or when a Queen is under attack.

(3) A player may challenge a move made by his opponent, whereupon theboards are moved into their closed position. If the move is legitimate,the challenger then forfeits a move; if illegitimate, the piece isreturned to its original square and the challenger gets a free move.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a means by which onemay develop a skill in visualing geometric relationships as alreadymentioned. Every intelligence test contains problems relating tointerpretation of spacial and geometric relationships between objects.While this game board is used to play games such as threedimensionaltic-tac-toe, as a. player develops his skill in playing the game he alsodevelops the intellectual insight required to solve complex spacialproblems, thereby improving a necessary skill so important inmeasurement of IQ.

The manner in which this skill in visualizing geometric relationships isdemonstrated or tested is by utilizing the game boards, which are partof the overall apparatus, in unaligned or extended positions asdescribed above, when playing games such as three-dimensionaltic-tac-toe. This requires the players to mentally reconstruct theentire array and the relationship between the various pieces. A playersability to do this has a direct bearing on how well he can play thegame. Of course other factors are involved which relate to his abilityto win, but the first prerequisite is skill in visualizing spacialrelationships.

Many other ways of using this apparatus may be devised for games as wellas teaching purposes, and many obvious modifications in the arrangementof the parts and details of construction may be made in this apparatus 4without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, asdefined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A game apparatus comprising a frame, a plurality of play boards, aplurality of sets of game pieces, the frame and play boards beingconstructed of transparent material, each play board having a pluralityof game piece receiving areas defined by intersecting lines disposed onthe face of the play board for the selective reception of the gamepieces, means slidably positioning the play boards in vertically spacedrelation within the frame and enabling movement of each play boardoutwardly of the frame from a different side thereof, stop means on eachplay board to prevent its detachment from the frame whereby each playboard may be moved from a retracted position within the frame to aposition extending outwardly from a different side of the frame.

2. The game apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein the frame is ofcubical shape and the play boards are substantially square, theintersecting lines on the play boards being at right angles to eachother and so spaced that the game piece receiving areas aresubstantially square.

3. A game apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein the intersecting lineson each play board consist of three equally spaced parallel linesparallel to opposite side edges of the board and intersecting threeequally spaced parallel lines parallel to the other edges of the board,each set of lines being spaced equal distances from the board edges,whereby sixteen square game piece receiving areas are formed.

4. A game apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein the side edges andintersecting lines of each play board comprise ridge portions of thesame material of which the board is made to aid in maintaining the playpieces in their selected receiving areas during the course of the game.

References Cited Time Magazine, Feb. 4, 1952, page 15, item entitledThree-Dimensional Chess.

Playthings Magazine, December 1964, page 72.

DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 273136

